Upmarket cordial maker Belvoir Fruit Farms has invested more than £1 million making its production line more efficient and environmentally-friendly.
The family-run business, which turned over £25.2 million last year, has spent £1.3 million on a new rinser, filler and capper machine as well as a new palletiser and automatic wrapper.
It means it can fill the 25-30 million bottles it sells each year more efficiently, wrap pallets automatically, and pack with less waste.
The business, based in Bottesford, in the pretty Vale of Belvoir, on the Leicestershire-Nottinghamshire border, makes a range of cordials including natural orange, lemon and mint, lime and lemongrass, and ginger.
It’s most popular elderflower cordial is made using flowers handpicked from the family’s own plantations and growing wild in the surrounding counties.
It has also branched into cans, ready-to-drink pressés, and mixers, all sold by big chains including Ocado, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
The company opened a £3 million factory and bottling line back in 2015.
Since then it has seen consistent growth in sales of its natural, premium soft drinks – in 2018 sales of its pressés increased by 11 per cent while cordials grew by 24 per cent.
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Turnover for the business is up more than £6.5 million on the sales of £18.5 million it achieved in 2017, when pre-tax profits were £1.4 million.
Managing director Pev Manners said: “With our sales growing it’s important that we can be as efficient as possible in the bottling and palletising of our drinks.
“We still use our traditional recipe and honest natural ingredients, and the creation and infusing of our cordials and pressés is still done largely by hand, however, with more orders, speed of fulfilling them and keeping our customers happy is essential.”
Belvoir was launched by Lord and Lady John and Mary Manners in 1984, and now employs around 115 staff in its offices, factory and bottling hall.
Its drinks are sold in more than 36 countries around the world, with strong demand in the US, Australia, Netherlands and France.
The company states that all its drinks are bottled in recyclable glass or aluminium cans, with no plastic used.
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The new palletiser and automatic wrapper will cut down on waste bottles by about 1.5 per cent, equal to around 150,000 bottles a year, or 22 tonnes of glass.
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It should also cut down on the use of oil as the yields will be better, and reduce electricity bills as the new machine is more economical to run.
In addition, the business states that it now sends no industrial waste to landfill, recycling all its waste glass, card and cardboard.
On top of that, all of its new company cars are hybrids and the business recycles all of its office paper.
Despite the investments, the business remains reliant on local people to bring in the annual elderflower harvest, paying £2.60 for each kilo collected.
Belvoir needs 3.6 million flowerheads each summer to make enough of its cordial and pressés to meet demand.
Drop off points are now open at Belvoir Fruit Farms, in Barkestone Lane, Bottesford; Sacrewell Farm and Country Centre, in Thornhaugh; and Swarkestone Nursery, Lowes Lane, Swarkestone (the latter by appointment only).
Mr Manners said: “Of course it’s exciting to invest in new equipment – although a little heart-stopping when you consider the cost.
“However, without the elderflowers and the hard work of all those who help us gather them in, there would be no need for efficient bottling lines.
“I’d like to thank everyone who gets involved and look forward to welcoming back those who return year after year and to meeting those who are new to the harvest.”